KK Women and Children’s Hospital has released a statement on the accusation the hospital faced earlier this week of not providing adequate medical attention to a young girl, resulting in the child becoming unconscious and unresponsive the very next morning.
Concerned parents Tricia Ang and Warren Lim had taken one of their four daughters to KKH. Since the hospital was busy, the family allegedly waited for 3-4 hours just to see the doctor who told them their child’s condition is not serious and asked them to wait for another 2-3 hours.
The doctor then allegedly told them that if they don’t want to wait, they can go to another hospital since their daughter’s condition is not serious.
The Lim family appear to have taken the doctor’s advice and returned home. However, at 11am on 14 Nov, their daughter allegedly fell unconscious and unresponsive.
The child’s mother excoriated the doctor and posted videos of a man, appearing to be her husband, trying to revive their child by performing CPR online. Ang indicated that her daughter recovered when paramedics arrived.
Interestingly, Ang’s post has since been removed from Facebook.
In it’s statement on the matter, KKH clarified that there were “no lapses in medical care or patient safety,” and that “the child’s condition was stable and she was not in danger. If her situation had changed or deteriorated, she would have been attended to promptly.”
Read the hospital’s full statement here:
“A recent post circulating online mentions our hospital and doctor, Dr Peter Wong, with regard to the KKH Children’s Emergency. We have investigated the matter and are in contact with the child and family.
“The facts are as follows: When the child was first assessed at the Children’s Emergency, she was found to have fever, but was otherwise stable. Our attending paediatric consultant, Dr Peter Wong, who is an experienced and well-regarded doctor, acknowledged the inconvenience caused to the family by the wait, and tried to explain to the parent that there were other patients who were more serious that needed to be attended more urgently and that the child would be attended to as soon as possible. The child’s condition was stable and she was not in danger. If her situation had changed or deteriorated, she would have been attended to promptly.
“We understand that the patient then left KKH Children’s Emergency before further medical examination could be conducted. About 12 hours later, the child was again brought to the Children’s Emergency and she was assessed to be stable. She was admitted to the general ward and provided with the necessary care. She was discharged the following day and is now at home.
“We have reviewed the case, and there were no lapses in medical care or patient safety.
“The hospital’s priority is to provide appropriate and timely care to our patients. As such, emergency cases have to be given priority. KKH is committed to improving our patients’ experience, but parents and caregivers have to also play their part to be responsible and considerate to enable our medical professionals to perform their tasks.”